Summary of FindingsThe presidential ads competed for viewers' attention with ads from
the U.S. Senate race, ads run by an interest group seeking to influence
a State Senate race, and ads for and against a Kenosha casino
measure. On Election Day minus One,
November 1, twice as much time was filled by political ads as one week
earlier.

Starting in mid-October and especially at the
close of the campaign Kerry benefited from
advertisements run by allies (Stronger America Now, UAW V-CAP, LCV,
SEIU COPE, and even one ad by an individual). One Bush ally,
Progress for America Voter Fund, ran ads throughout the study
period. The Kerry campaign ran a couple of
Wisconsin-specific ads; this was not seen from the Bush campaign.
Conversely, the Bush campaign ran a 60-second spot, while no 60-second
spots were seen from the Kerry campaign.

Notes: The National Republican Senatorial
Committee ran Michels ads and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin ran
Feingold ads, not distiguished above (they were the same ads the
campaign only with a different disclaimer at the end.

DetailsNov. 1, 2004 -
This
sample of 7 1/2 hours of news had
ads totaling 124.5 minutes (a bit over 2 hours or 27.6 percent of the
time; this
does not include promos for other programs on the station)). The sample included 154 political ads from 13
different groups totaling
79.0 minutes. Thus 17.6 percent of the broadcast time
consisted of political ads. Exactly half of these ads related to
the presidential race (77 of the 154 political ads). There were
54 ads totaling 27 minutes
from Kerry and allies and 23 ads totaling 13.5 minutes from Bush and
one ally.There were also 37 ads (18.5
minutes) from the Senate race, mostly from the Republican candidate
Michels (all the same ad featuring Rudy Giuliani, some paid for by
NRSC), 30 ads (15 minutes,
roughly evenly split between yes and no) on a Kenosha casino measure,
and 7 ads (3.5 minutes) run by the Wisconsin Education Association
Council PAC attacking a Republican State Senate candidate.

Oct. 25, 2004 - This sample of 7 1/2 hours of news included 111 political ads from 11 different groups totaling 57.0
minutes. Thus 12.7 percent of the broadcast time consisted of
political ads. 53 of the 111 political ads (47.7 percent) were
related to the
presidential race. The remainder included roughly equal numbers
of ads from the Senate campaigns (Michels again using just one ad and
Feingold using several), roughly equal numbers of ads on each side of
the Kenosha casino, and the WEAC PAC attack ad.

Oct. 18, 2004 - Due to the baseball playoffs the sample is 4 1/2
hours of news consisting of the morning
block of 4 hours and the noon broadcast. It included 49
political ads totaling 24.5 minutes from a dozen entities. Thus
9.1 percent of the broadcast time consisted of political ads. 19
of the 49 political ads (38.8 percent) were related to the presidential
race.

Oct. 11, 2004 - Due to recording error
this sample includes only 2 hours of news. The 2 hours included
22 political ads totaling 11 minutes from 7 different groups. 9.2 percent of the broadcast time consisted of political
ads. 14 of the 22 political ads were related to the presidential
race.

Oct. 4, 2004 - Due to recording error
this sample includes 4 1/2 hours of news
consisting of the morning block of 4 hours and the noon
broadcast. It included 36 political ads totaling 18
minutes. 6.7 percent of the broadcast
time consisted of political ads. 23 of the 36 political ads were
related to the presidential race.

>To get a sense of how
representative the above FOX sample is, three hours of local news on TMJ 4
(NBC) for the morning of Nov. 1, 2004 were viewed.
Findings:

This
sample of three hours of news included 42 political ads totaling 21.5
minutes. 11.9
percent of the broadcast time consisted of political ads. 15 of
the 42 political ads were related to the presidential race (35.7
percent). The TMJ 4 sample included one advertiser not seen in
the FOX sample, the WMC Isues Mobilization
Council, Inc./ Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce, which ran an ad against Wirch.